DOJ, Airlines Open To Settlement Over $11B Merger

By David McAfee

Law360, New York (August 28, 2013, 5:26 PM ET) -- The U.S. Department of Justice, American Airlines Inc. and US Airways Group Inc. on Wednesday expressed their interest in settling the government’s challenge to the airlines’ $11 billion merger, just one day after the DOJ requested a March 2014 trial date.

The government said in a joint report that it is “open to a settlement that addresses the competitive harms posed by the merger but have not yet received any such proposal from the defendants.” For their part, American Airlines and US Airways said they attempted...